Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact the new salary thresholds for Skilled Worker visas on staffing levels in her Department.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst the impact of changes to the Skilled Worker Salary threshold are affecting a very small proportion of staff within the Department, visa expiry and potential options for obtaining a future work visa are specific to individuals’ circumstances and the Home Office legislation which applies at the time that their current visa expires.
As current employees’ visa expiry dates span several years and not all will be impacted by the changes to the skilled worker salary thresholds, the department does not expect changes to the Skilled Worker salary threshold to negatively impact on service or resource levels.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what delegated flexibilities are available to her Department for calculating (a) working hours and (b) actual hours worked.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Terms and conditions of employment outside the Senior Civil Service are delegated to departments but must be managed in the public interest and in accordance with the Civil Service Management Code, and through consultation with the Cabinet Office and His Majesty's Treasury.
Where a term of employment is contractual, like working hours, it cannot be changed for existing employees other than with their expressed agreement or through collective bargaining with the trade unions.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support staff in her Department who are employed on Skilled Workers Visas and whose salary is below the new salary threshold.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
All staff employed in the department on a skilled worker visa have a salary above the skilled worker minimum salary threshold introduced in April 2024.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the gender breakdown is for Universal Credit claimants who are single parents.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women have been granted an exemption to the two-child limit as a result of non-consensual conception since April 2017.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested information is provided in the table below and shows in April of each year from 2017 to 2024, the number of households with a non-consensual conception exception to the two-child policy, who were women (if single claimants) or couples in which at least one claimant was a woman.
| Single UC Households, with a non-consensual conception exception | Couple UC households, with a non-consensual conception exception |
Apr-17 | 0 | 0 |
Apr-18 | 10 | - |
Apr-19 | 140 | 10 |
Apr-20 | 560 | 40 |
Apr-21 | 1,000 | 70 |
Apr-22 | 1,500 | 110 |
Apr-23 | 2,100 | 130 |
Apr-24 | 2,400 | 170 |
Notes:
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to revisions to the Immigration Rules, updated on 19 February and 14 March 2024, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of its salary calculations on the continued employment of staff from her Department on workplace visas.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Whilst the impact of changes to the Skilled Worker Salary threshold, introduced in April 2024, is affecting a very small proportion of staff within the Department, visa expiry and potential options for obtaining a future work visa are specific to individuals’ circumstances and the Home Office legislation which applies at the time that their current visa expires.
As current employees’ Visa expiry dates span several years and not all will be impacted by the changes to the skilled worker salary thresholds, the department does not expect changes to the Skilled Worker salary threshold to negatively impact on service levels.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many single parents on maternity leave have had benefit payments capped.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The requested statistics are not available as the Department does not hold information on the maternity leave status of single parents that have had benefit payments capped.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that bodies providing independent validation of organisations seeking Disability Confident Leader status or to renewal of that status are fit for purpose.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Disability Confident scheme has over 19,000 members and they report over 12 million employees working in their organisations. The scheme is designed as a learning journey with all employers starting at Level 1 and encouraged to progress through the scheme to Levels 2 and 3. As they progress on their learning journey, we expect they will continue to increase and share their understanding with employees and put in place effective and inclusive policies and procedures in support of disability employment.
The range of suitable validators of organisations seeking Disability Confident Leader status or renewal of that status is explained in the scheme guidance. Most validations are undertaken by existing Disability Confident Leaders, although the full list is:
The scheme encourages businesses to choose an organisation suited to their business size, that can provide a proportionate level of challenge based on their own knowledge, lived experience, skills and expertise.
Disability Confident Leaders have had their own self-assessment independently validated and demonstrated a high level of commitment and success in creating inclusive workplaces. This experience equips them to be able to support others through the process sharing their knowledge and skills, to assess and validate other organisations effectively.
Other organisations able to validate businesses seeking to become or renew Disability Confident Leader status have specific expert knowledge of disability related issues in the workplace and / or have lived experience of disability.
As part of the work, we have begun to strengthen the scheme, we are considering options to make the validation process more robust, including improving the guidance for validators and reviewing the types of bodies permitted to undertake validations.
The overall number of complaints received by the Disability Confident policy team in the period 2022 to 2024 is approximately 220. Where the Department is made aware of any complaint raised against a Disability Confident employer for not meeting the scheme criteria, we would apply the process described in the Disability Complaints procedure. If after further examination, we consider the employer is failing to comply with any of the scheme criteria, the Department will give the employer an opportunity to remedy the situation. There have been no instances where an employer was given the opportunity to remedy the situation and failed to respond.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints the Disability Confident policy team in her Department has had concerning a Disability Confident employer failing to comply with the Disability Confident criteria in the last three years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Disability Confident scheme has over 19,000 members and they report over 12 million employees working in their organisations. The scheme is designed as a learning journey with all employers starting at Level 1 and encouraged to progress through the scheme to Levels 2 and 3. As they progress on their learning journey, we expect they will continue to increase and share their understanding with employees and put in place effective and inclusive policies and procedures in support of disability employment.
The range of suitable validators of organisations seeking Disability Confident Leader status or renewal of that status is explained in the scheme guidance. Most validations are undertaken by existing Disability Confident Leaders, although the full list is:
The scheme encourages businesses to choose an organisation suited to their business size, that can provide a proportionate level of challenge based on their own knowledge, lived experience, skills and expertise.
Disability Confident Leaders have had their own self-assessment independently validated and demonstrated a high level of commitment and success in creating inclusive workplaces. This experience equips them to be able to support others through the process sharing their knowledge and skills, to assess and validate other organisations effectively.
Other organisations able to validate businesses seeking to become or renew Disability Confident Leader status have specific expert knowledge of disability related issues in the workplace and / or have lived experience of disability.
As part of the work, we have begun to strengthen the scheme, we are considering options to make the validation process more robust, including improving the guidance for validators and reviewing the types of bodies permitted to undertake validations.
The overall number of complaints received by the Disability Confident policy team in the period 2022 to 2024 is approximately 220. Where the Department is made aware of any complaint raised against a Disability Confident employer for not meeting the scheme criteria, we would apply the process described in the Disability Complaints procedure. If after further examination, we consider the employer is failing to comply with any of the scheme criteria, the Department will give the employer an opportunity to remedy the situation. There have been no instances where an employer was given the opportunity to remedy the situation and failed to respond.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which bodies provide independent validation of organisations seeking Disability Confident Leader status or renewal of that status.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Disability Confident scheme has over 19,000 members and they report over 12 million employees working in their organisations. The scheme is designed as a learning journey with all employers starting at Level 1 and encouraged to progress through the scheme to Levels 2 and 3. As they progress on their learning journey, we expect they will continue to increase and share their understanding with employees and put in place effective and inclusive policies and procedures in support of disability employment.
The range of suitable validators of organisations seeking Disability Confident Leader status or renewal of that status is explained in the scheme guidance. Most validations are undertaken by existing Disability Confident Leaders, although the full list is:
The scheme encourages businesses to choose an organisation suited to their business size, that can provide a proportionate level of challenge based on their own knowledge, lived experience, skills and expertise.
Disability Confident Leaders have had their own self-assessment independently validated and demonstrated a high level of commitment and success in creating inclusive workplaces. This experience equips them to be able to support others through the process sharing their knowledge and skills, to assess and validate other organisations effectively.
Other organisations able to validate businesses seeking to become or renew Disability Confident Leader status have specific expert knowledge of disability related issues in the workplace and / or have lived experience of disability.
As part of the work, we have begun to strengthen the scheme, we are considering options to make the validation process more robust, including improving the guidance for validators and reviewing the types of bodies permitted to undertake validations.
The overall number of complaints received by the Disability Confident policy team in the period 2022 to 2024 is approximately 220. Where the Department is made aware of any complaint raised against a Disability Confident employer for not meeting the scheme criteria, we would apply the process described in the Disability Complaints procedure. If after further examination, we consider the employer is failing to comply with any of the scheme criteria, the Department will give the employer an opportunity to remedy the situation. There have been no instances where an employer was given the opportunity to remedy the situation and failed to respond.